


Occasion, Not Occasional

by infiniteeight



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-13
Updated: 2014-03-13
Packaged: 2018-01-15 13:52:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1307179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infiniteeight/pseuds/infiniteeight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers keep crashing Phil and Clint's dates. They're both frustrated, but for different reasons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Occasion, Not Occasional

**Author's Note:**

  * For [orderlychaos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orderlychaos/gifts), [Ralkana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ralkana/gifts).



> After a really rough night on Tuesday, during which Ralkana and Chaos held my hand, I decided to write an ego boosting fic and offered them prompts as a thank you. I got "first PDA in front of the team" from Ral and "sneaking out for a date" from a Chaos and managed to...not quite get either one in here. Oops?
> 
> This also fulfills my "trust and vows" square for Trope Bingo.

It's stupid, and Clint _knows_ that it's stupid, but the fact that the other Avengers like Phil as much as they do is starting to piss him off.

The team had been thrown for a loop when the announcement of Phil's "death" turned out to be premature. Even Fury had been surprised; apparently the doctors decided that asking forgiveness was better than permission when it came to using experimental tech that the Director hadn't approved. So Clint could understand why they others had checked in on Phil so frequently, at first. The help with keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't overextend himself during recovery had been welcome, even.

But it had been six months since then, and Phil was even cleared for light duty, now. There was no reason for Steve and Tony and Thor and even Bruce to keep turning up just as he and Clint were heading out for a _date_ and inviting themselves along. It's not like the Avengers didn't know the outings were dates -- they lived together, for God's sake.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to stop anyone other than Natasha. She tried to run interference, but there were four of them and only one of her; it only worked about half the time. The other half the time, Clint ended up sulking and watching as whoever it was co-opted Phil, who was too polite to do anything but shoot Clint apologetic glances every time his attempts to redirect the conversation failed.

So yeah, it might be stupid, but Clint is pissed off anyway. Phil had been _his_ for a long time, and now he's not anymore. Not really, not when Steve or Tony or Thor or Bruce can show up at any moment and sideline Clint. He and Phil haven't managed a date--just the two of them--for almost a month. Phil has developed that awful wrinkle between his eyes that he gets when his plans have been repeatedly upended. That's probably why he goes along with it when Clint's response to Phil announcing they have reservations is to set JARVIS to privacy mode, scout the hallway solo, and hustle Phil to the back service elevator.

The elevator door slides shut and Clint turns to Phil and smiles sheepishly. "Sorry," he says. "Just trying to avoid being intercepted."

"I'm just glad we didn't go out the window," Phil chuckles.

Clint laughs too, and a little bit of tension goes out of both of them. Date night is _on_. They don't even take the chance of crossing the lobby, instead ducking down the service hallway and out the back exit.

Where Steve is just rounding the corner, hands tucked into his jacket pockets, obviously returning from a walk. Clint's heart sinks even as Steve's face lights up. "Clint, Phil!" he greets them. "It's a bit late to be heading out."

He's right; it's almost nine. Presumably Phil's attempt to get them out to dinner after everyone else had already eaten. "We're having a late dinner," Phil says. "Don't let us keep you."

"My walk went longer than I thought," Steve says, and Clint just knows what's coming next. "Dinner sounds great."

Phil opens his mouth to reply, but Clint just _can't_ anymore. "No!" he snaps, glaring. Steve blinks. "Dinner does not sound good, not when I'm turned into a tourist on a goddamned date with my own boyfriend! I get that Phil isn't just mine anymore, but if you--or Tony, or Thor, or Bruce--want to spend time with him, schedule your own fucking dinner and _stop stealing mine_."

"I'm sorry," Steve says, shifting his weight. "It's so hard to know when you," he looks at Phil, "have a moment free, and I didn't think you'd mind the occasional party crasher."

Phil puts a hand on Clint's wrist before he can speak. "If it was _occasional_ , we probably wouldn't," he tells Steve. "But between the four of you, it's not occasional--it's been every date for the last twenty three days."

Steve winces. "I'm really sorry," he repeats. "I'll go say something to the others."

"Thanks," Phil says

Clint slowly deflates, his anger running out of him once Steve disappears. "Sorry I made a big thing out of that," he mutters.

"Hey." When Clint looks up, Phil steps in and kisses him softly. Clint puts his hands on Phil's hips and kisses back, enjoying having him there, at least for this moment. They part and rest their foreheads together. "Believe it or not, I was even more frustrated than you were," Phil says. "I had a whole plan for this," he fishes a box out of his pocket and rubs a thumb over the velvet. "And they kept screwing it up."

Clint's mouth goes dry. "We could probably make that plan work, now," he manages.

Phil straightens up and shakes his head, but he's smiling. "No, I think right now is good. Because, Clint," he flips the box open, revealing a pair of simple white gold rings, "a tourist is the last thing I want you to be in this relationship, and I will always be yours and only yours."

There's a cool solidity to the bands that makes Clint want to snatch one out of the box and put it on. Then he grins, so broadly that it makes his face hurt, because he _can_. He gets the wrong ring at first--it doesn't fit quite right--and both of them laugh breathlessly as they swap bands and slide them on. The kiss that Clint lays on Phil after that doesn't quite work, either, because they're smiling too much. "In case you missed it," Clint says against Phil's mouth, "that was a 'yes'."

"I got that when you practically snatched the ring out of my hands," Phil teases. "Shall we go for a celebratory dinner?"

Clint steps away and makes a show of looking around for lurking Avengers. "Coast is clear," he says. "Let's make a break for it."

Phil laughs, but when they come around to meet their cab at the front of the building, Bruce is there, obviously not having spoken to Steve yet, and they really _do_ end up making a break for it.

~!~


End file.
